And The Greatest of These Was Love
by slytherin-punk-rocker311
Summary: Delves deep into pureblood society and the rules of marriage. Investigates the union of Draco and a childhood friend...may be rated R later for content.
1. My Love's Like A Red, Red Rose

Author's Note: And The Greatest of These Was Love is basically a story about the pureblood society and the literal 'rules of engagement'. It deals with seventeen-year-old Draco Malfoy entering the real world after graduation and getting married, as well as delving into his first year of marriage. The woman in question is Professor Snape's daughter, a longtime friend of his and his junior by only one week. I know this setup of Snape having a kid is tired by now, but this one is good, I promise! Hope you enjoy it and please r-n-r, I beg of you. It's my lifeblood.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Professor Snape, Draco Malfoy, or any of the latter's friends and family. I do own Professor Snape's daughter Paige, his wife Lucy, and any made-up people that are their friends. Come on, now, you know how it goes if you're a fan.  
  
Chapter One: Interesting Things Happen When You're Drunk  
  
The darkened room was dead quiet. A few hours ago, there had been a massive party going on and all of the respectable pureblood teens had shown their faces there. There had been an abundance of alcohol, and all that was left were half-empty bottles of expensive chardonnay and one fine sample of champagne that Draco had stolen from his father's private stores, used for getting his mother into bed once in a full moon. Also, there was an assortment of comatose bodies laying about the area in a disarrayed fashion, most of those that wore low-cut dresses laying on those that didn't, and one couple of the former that wore the same gown. The group of Slytherins were celebrating a Cup victory over Gryffindor and the party had only gotten out of hand by Mudblood standards.  
  
Suddenly there was slight movement. Paige Snape, aged seventeen in two weeks, shifted her straight, oily jet-black hair from her eyes and glanced around at everyone physically present, squinting in slight disorient. She shook her head a little and glanced down at her hands, which rested in a curved position around Draco Malfoy's shoulders. He was still out, having a slight bit more to drink than she had. Paige hadn't thought she had her own tolerance level for the stuff until now, seeing as her father was a notorious drinker in the days of his youth, a bit of an analogy to Sirius Black and his smoking habits. Normally she could stomach any drink enough to take at least one more, but even sampling this evening had cost her consciousness for a little while, a few hours, she supposed. There were no clocks in the room, but she could guess by the position of the moon outside, having taken a year of astronomy, that it was around one- thirty in the morning. Crap, her father would most likely have wanted her home before now, unless he was still out bar-hopping himself. But her mother didn't approve of all that now that they were older, and he usually obeyed her wishes.  
  
She flinched very softly as she felt the hands placed gently about her waist move and lightly grip her skin. She didn't like when he did that because it made her feel like a hog. God, she had horrible love handles. She'd have to get rid of those before she could properly marry anyone. Marriage was the most important part of a pureblood's life, for those of both the male and female variety, second only to reproducing. She and Draco had been friends since birth, and had dated since they began at Hogwarts and the concept of such a relationship was widely introduced. It seemed natural for them to pair up. As odd as it had seemed kissing her best friend for the first time, Paige didn't feel that she'd minded giving away her old tomboy self and adopting a ladylike pureblood persona. According to Draco's mother, it was her destiny, just as it was for every pureblood girl. But it suddenly struck her that she had never considered actually marrying Draco.  
  
He opened his eyes and the depressive gray color of them distracted her from her thoughts. He wore the usual bored, discerning gaze as he, too, skimmed over the order of the room. Pansy Parkinson and Gregory Goyle were sleeping together on his spare bed, and it seemed to annoy him, but he was too hung over to really do anything. At that point he seemed to notice Paige propped up on top of him.  
  
"If you're going to throw up, don't do it here, because these pants are new and rather expensive."  
  
Ah, the romance and chivalry. Be still, my heart!  
  
Truly, these were his first words upon his awakening. Paige assured him that she didn't feel like throwing up, although she did confide to herself that it was very possible the notion would fast become reality in a couple of hours. He nodded and pushed her up gently so as he could stand, which he did with surprising confidence. He helped her wobbly, thin form to her feet and they glanced over the back of each styled updo, the front side of the head buried in a custom-designed business shirt.  
  
"Want a drink?" He picked up the remains of his father's champagne, which someone had obviously snuck a drink from. He smiled as he handed it to her and she set it back down. He had a cute smile, the kind girls liked flashed at them as he walked through the corridor, Paige striding along a couple inches behind and trying to make it recognizable that she was indeed attached to this superstar.  
  
He turned from her as he saw Pansy's foot move and yelled at her to get up and take her boyfriend with her. She growled an offensive response and pulled herself from the subtle warmth of Goyle's slightly-overweight body, snapping sleepily at him to get off Draco's bed. He opened his eyes halfway and sat up with a bemused expression, asking her loudly if they'd had sex. She said no, of course not, and he frowned but got up and followed her out anyway. A few moments later the sounds of rude heaving could be heard out back in Narcissa's private gardens.  
  
Paige stared after them and sat down on the end of the bed, watching Draco as he roused everyone and sent them on their way. The various couples, half of them horribly mismatched, said their goodbyes and he saw them all out before returning to the bedroom and closing the door.  
  
"It's good to have them out. Remind me to make Goyle host the next victory shindig." He muttered.  
  
She wondered vaguely if he was talking to her or merely himself. She smoothed out the wrinkled folds of her white dress and found that no one had spilled liquor or retched on her while she slept. She glanced over and saw her shoes lying haphazardly in one corner of the room, and then found herself watching Draco again.  
  
He sighed and came over to sit on the bed next to her, putting his arm around her thin shoulders. "Did you have a good time?" He asked, the look on his face one of near honesty, almost as if he cared about the nature of her response.  
  
"Yeah." She nodded and smiled bravely. Draco was really handsome, when she looked at him and considered it. She could understand him having such an extensive fan base. Around her he did seem slightly different, at least when he hadn't just woken up.  
  
"Good, then. I did too. I remember most of it." He laughed softly, and drew a second smile out of her as she joined him for a moment.  
  
She watched as he began to retrieve the various varieties of bottled liquid strewn about the area and got up and walked over to the window. The rain was pouring outside in the dark sky, yet it didn't drown out the still image of the half moon and the tiny population of stars spread out all over the clear night. No one was out tonight in the streets, and it seemed even the shadiest of hoodlums that usually turned up to beg of the rich had found a home for the evening. The candlelit streetlights cast a disturbingly manmade glow on the wet cobblestone, nothing about it memorable or sentimental.  
  
She felt the same hands, they that lacked warmth like her father's. They rested in the same pudgy pocket on the sides of her midsection. She wanted to rip them away and not have the baby fat there, although it was illogical to associate her name with such a term since she was born severly underweight to an equally skeletal mother. But God was her mother beautiful. She had long, gorgeous blonde hair, like Draco's mother, and it was straight and hung in a wild curtain to her shoulder blades. Her mother had beautiful blue eyes, a delicate sadness and cripple hanging within. She was so thin, so fragile, and it was a wonder her father hadn't snapped her mother in half when they made love.  
  
"Looks cold out." He mused, and like a romantic idiot took his favorite leather jacket from the coat rack and draped it about her shoulders, making her look even more misshapen.  
  
She turned from the window after he had again left her and saw that he was currently sitting in the fine wicker chair that had once been in his mother's study and where she had lodged herself to read. Frankly, Paige was surprised Narcissa knew how to read, what with Lucius and his attitude on educating females. Truthfully, Lucius had many problems with women in general. Draco crossed his legs like a real man and watched her, a sign that he was wondering why she wasn't already in the desired position before him.  
  
She strode over to the bed, arms crossed with coat intact, and sat on the end once more, watching the ground as she walked, a perfect sign of appropriate submissiveness. She didn't look directly at him, not even at his face, as she sat in a similar position, also crossing her legs like a femme would.  
  
"Paige."  
  
The sudden sound of his voice, not in such a quiet tone as before, coupled with the usage of her name in a genuine tone startled her and she uncrossed her arms and looked at him. She began to realize the odd nature of her former stance and how he might have taken it as a symbol of some anger toward him. But apparently he just wanted to talk.  
  
"Y'know, I've been thinking."  
  
The use of this particular phrase can never open up a good situation.  
  
"We're both pretty much seventeen now, right?" He said, as if he didn't know. She nodded.  
  
"Anyway, my parents have mentioned to me that it might be time for me to begin considering marriage."  
  
She forgot all sense of manners and stared up into his eyes like a deer in headlights, and then quickly replaced this gesture with one of unconcern. "Sure. Mine, too." Liar.  
  
"I was planning tonight on asking you if you might be my bride."  
  
She narrowed her eyes and frowned slightly, confused. She hadn't known that he had any real feelings for her, although she was an exceptionally cute girl and upheld a near perfect pureblood way of living. She had simply assumed that their relationship was one built upon his parents' wishes and that if they got married it would also be arranged. Really, she'd never thought that he'd actually propose to her. Suddenly she realized that the suspicious face she was making might appear to him as disgust.  
  
"Of course I will." She smiled, and it was not a cold one. "I love you, Draco."  
  
The use of first names gave both halves of the pair the idea that there was a romance there.  
  
"I love you, Paige." He smiled and stood, bending to kiss her cheek before leaving her alone with a closed door.  
  
She went over to the corner and put on her shoes, still frowning. She had just said yes to one of the richest guys in the city, easily the richest in the school, and in doing so had guaranteed herself a future of luxury, not simply provision. But would there be love?  
  
As she moved to the door and caught herself in the full-length by his dresser, she thought that it was possible that love was what she was missing. Her parents loved each other, so she thought, because they acted slightly differently toward one another than the Malfoys and it must be love if it wasn't hate or indifference.  
  
Chapter Two Coming Soon! 


	2. I Love When You Hurt Me

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I received rave reviews for this one, so I'm continuing it. This chapter introduces Lucy, Severus's wife and Paige's mother, and expands a little on the relations between her and her husband, as well as between Paige and her parents, namely her father. Contains a slight bit of adult content, so be forewarned.  
  
Chapter Two: I Love When You Hurt Me  
  
She opened her gorgeous blue eyes, shallow in their irises, and at first saw only a piece of her blonde hair meeting her as she reentered the world. She moved it aside, examining diamond-studded French fingernails as she did so to see if all ten were still in place. They were, of course, and she sat up on her side of the large bed. Several layers of richly woven silk sheets in a light grey shade were twisted gently about her naked calves. On top of that lay two blankets, both black in color, and a thin comforter in the same hue. She ran her fingers blankly over the black silk pillow and found two or three of her hairs plastered to it. Ignoring these flaws, she got up and strode over to her vanity. Lucy had her own quarters where most of her clothing and makeup was located, just as Severus had his, but they rarely slept apart. There was just something comforting about the security of having someone asleep next to you, entangled in your touch, falling asleep while bathed in your familiar scent.  
  
Lucy calmly brushed her hair, frowning slightly as she contemplated whether or not to shower. It was late in the morning, around ten, and she might have needed to since he had made love to her the previous evening and his fertile seed was still scattered about the sheets more likely. She decided against it, not really wanting to rid her senses of the memory of his touch that made her skin tingle. His hands were soft against her when he held her and especially when they had sex. His hands were never soft for anyone but her, and perhaps their offspring, but that was it. She thumbed through one of her many wardrobes and finally decided on a dark red dress that came to her mid-thighs and tied at her neck. The opposite ends of the ties hit at the outside edges of her breasts and left space for a nice straight cut across her bust, so as it would expose a little cleavage when she bent over. She slipped on her emerald-studded 'Goddess' kitten heels and padded over to the vanity again, ready to start on her makeup.  
  
"Come back to bed." A dark voice quietly beckoned her from behind.  
  
She turned and saw her husband sitting up on the bed, his naked torso exposed and the necessities covered by the grey sheets. He scratched the back of his scalp and ruffled his hair a little. "Morning, love." He got up slowly and came over to her, enveloping her waist with his stronger arms. He placed a sweet kiss on her cheek and rested his head on top of hers. "You are so beautiful." He stood like this for a moment and then let go, searching the room for something he could put on. "Y'know," He spoke with his back to her. "I had a pretty good time last night." He found a black t- shirt and put it on, pulling his boxer shorts back on with it. Oddly enough, the shades matched. He glanced up at her, waiting for her reaction.  
  
"Yeah." She chuckled and allowed herself to smile. Who was he kidding? Of course they'd both had a good time. The two had plenty of chemistry and their sex life was amazing. The first time they'd both gotten any, back in sixth year, Lucy had almost felt enough ecstasy to write down the details of her orgasms and their cause in the history books and sell it to the world so that no one would ever again tell her that sex is never all it's cracked up to be.  
  
"You hungry?" He asked. "What would you like for breakfast?"  
  
"I don't know...I am hungry, though." She nodded. "Fix whatever comes to mind."  
  
"Alright." He dipped his hand between the crook of her elbow and her luscious hip and placed it gently in the small of her back, leading her into the kitchen, where she seated herself at the table. Lucy had no desire for servants so most of what happened around the house was her doings. However, once in a while Severus would do something romantic like this for her. He busied himself about the counter as she wondered what he might fix her.  
  
Lucy glanced at the Daily Prophet, not really interested in the news. Still, she needed something to gossip about if Narcissa and her sister chose to stop by. Lucy was quite pretty but hadn't really had all that many friends at Hogwarts, and she and Severus had paired up not far into third or fourth year, when everyone really started dating. It just seemed natural, seeing as they were two of the only remaining purebloods without a mate. But after a while she had begun to see him as more than just a plaything and had chosen to accept his proposal. It was decent and both families approved. It had taken her two years or so after they'd met and gotten together to begin to see his handsome features, gentle attitude toward her, and chivalrous courtesy she was certain his mother had taught him from a young age, wanting him to meet a well-bred girl to marry. Lucy had been taught to be a lady and his mother had liked her.  
  
She glanced up as he lightly set down a small plate of pancakes in front of her and smiled softly. She liked pancakes but hardly ever ate more than a few bites of anything. However he was skilled in the field and she wanted to honor his efforts to impress her. She ate slowly, savoring the taste of the warm breaded pancakes in her mouth as he watched her contentedly. Severus was a man of few words, except when torturing his students. Therefore, when he did speak his words brought with them a lot of power.  
  
"How are Paige and her boyfriend? Has she written?" She asked, stopping for a moment to talk with him.  
  
"No." He shook his head. "She still hasn't written or come home yet. She may be staying at Lucius's manor again this evening."  
  
Lucy nodded. She had seen Paige with her boyfriend a couple times when she left or entered the house with him, but had never really met the younger of the Malfoys. She approved of Draco's bloodline and she and Narcissa had pacted long ago for their brood to wed. The boy seemed to treat her all right, and she assumed Paige liked him or else found someone else by now, being fickle like her parents.  
  
She felt cold fingers on her palm and noticed that Severus had taken the hand she'd left on the table while they discussed their daughter and was absentmindedly caressing her fingers. He kept running his own over the ring he'd given her for their wedding day. He looked almost fascinated with the diamond, as if he were seeing it for the first time. She moved it a little, toward his grasp instead of away so as not to give him the impression that she didn't wish for him to touch her. He glanced up and held it, stopping the gentle rubbing motion. Theirs was a simple, understood sort of love, despite their riches.  
  
"I—" He was about to say that he loved her (like she didn't know) when they both looked up at the sound of the door cracking softly open. Paige closed it behind her and walked through the foyer and family room into the kitchen, one of many routes there. She was still wearing the short crimson gown she'd worn to Draco's party and carried her purse limply in one hand. She had pulled back her thick black hair, the color of raven's wings like her father's and a severe contrast to her mother's.  
  
"Hey, sweetheart." He muttered gently, watching her as she entered. "Did you have a good time?"  
  
"Yeah, Dad, I did." Paige smiled briefly, most of her dark red lipstick gone for obvious reasons.  
  
"Great, honey." Lucy put in, and her voice cracked a tiny bit in her half-asleep state. "How is Draco doing?"  
  
"He's doing okay, Mom." Paige continued to smile. "He said to say hello to both of you."  
  
"Tell him thank you." Lucy smiled in return, and gently squeezed her husband's hand.  
  
"I will." Paige glanced around the kitchen. The wine in her stomach was unsettled and she didn't have an appetite. "Okay, well, I'm going to go up and change..." She left the kitchen.  
  
Much of the afternoon was spent in peace, as usual. Lucy went shopping, a Saturday tradition, and picked up a few more dresses to add to her growing collection. When she returned to the manor she found Severus reading in his private study and Paige upstairs in her room, talking to one of her girlfriends, probably that Parkinson girl, through owl mail. They were about the same age, she supposed.  
  
That evening the two adults were relaxing by a warm fire in the family room, enjoying their own wine. Around five-thirty there came a knock on the door, and Severus got up to answer it. He let Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy, Draco's parents, into their house and was told that Bellatrix Lestrange and her husband would be joining them soon. Apparently it was due time for a neighborly get-together.  
  
"Lucy." Narcissa extended a hand as she passed the woman on the couch. Lucy resisted the urge to smirk. Narcissa had always been an anorexic liar and was taught by her mother to always do things without feeling and only as far as was required. She was the perfect model of a Death Eater. Normally women weren't accepted into the circle because it was supposed they were too weak, Bellatrix being a haughty exception. Narcissa Malfoy was tall, taller than Lucy and nearly taller than Lucius, who was the same height as Severus. She had fair blonde hair that had once been vibrant red and suspicious, pinched blue eyes that looked like the clear tips of seawater and seemed to always be annoyed at something or someone.  
  
Lucius, on the other hand, was the spitting image of his son. He had long, platinum blonde hair that was only slightly darker than Narcissa's and was usually pulled back unless he was trying to look intimidating, in which case he'd ruffle himself up in all ways possible and stick out his chest as he entered the room. He really was not at all like Severus, except for their wits.  
  
The Malfoys seated themselves on the dark green sofa across from the Snapes and took their own flasks of wine. Narcissa mirrored Lucy and took off her shoes, so that both ladies lay reclined against the thick pillows on either end of the couches in expensive, short dresses. Narcissa took her hair down and let her curls spread out, so that they both oozed sex.  
  
"So." Lucius began the interruption of their quiet evening, ignoring Narcissa's attempts to charm anyone within a few feet of the area. "Severus, we need to talk business."  
  
"Is that so? What business? The Circle?" Severus reciprocated blandly. It didn't concern him, whatever it was.  
  
"Naturally." God, Lucy hated the silky peace of his voice as it oozed from his lips. It's not like he'd care if everyone present died tomorrow. "He will return soon, Severus. He has informed me of such." As if Lucius were so important. "He will be expecting all of us to meet him there."  
  
Severus cracked several bones in his body, as was habit. "When will this come?"  
  
"Whenever the Dark Lord feels a meeting is necessary."  
  
"Of course." That was all Severus was going to say, and he sounded like he was dumb. As a matter of fact, the two men were hardly equal in intelligence levels, Severus being the higher. All Lucius knew were money and politics.  
  
At that point the Lestranges entered. Compared to the two blondes currently stretched out on the couches, Bellatrix Lestrange was like an evil aunt. She might better be betrothed to Edward Scissorhands than anyone else. She was tall, taller than both of the other women, and even skinnier than they could ever be. The woman had no curves. She hadn't any children, but it appeared as if her breasts had been sucked dry and simply hung there, shriveled. The small of her back led almost directly to her uncompensated thighs, with only a flat plain of a hump in between. Her long, wild black hair made her a vision of Morticia Addams and it hung in twisting waves to her elbows. Her eyes were heavy-lidded with black centers that always held a sort of disinterest. This was not a woman you could take down the street shopping.  
  
Her husband, on the other hand, was a man Lucy had never met before, although he might have been one of the suitors her mother had arranged her to marry before she had accepted Severus's proposal. He was also tall, but broader in the shoulders and chest. His hair was dark brown and hung just below his ears in taut, manly curls. Both of the Lestranges seated themselves in chairs opposite the group, and Bellatrix immediately took up a position staring into the fire purposelessly.  
  
Lucius informed the newcomers of what he and Severus had been discussing, and Lucy soon found herself again tuning him out. She turned to Narcissa, who also looked bored. Both of them looked at Bellatrix, who glanced up to meet their eyes in annoyance after a moment. She hated those who liked to stare. The two women chose to ignore her and went back to themselves.  
  
"So I hear your daughter has become interested in my son?" Narcissa asked quietly, after a beat.  
  
"She hasn't said anything." Lucy replied calmly.  
  
"Draco has." Narcissa's blue eyes gleamed with the prospect of arranging a real marriage. "As a matter of fact, he proposed to her last night."  
  
"Excuse me?" Lucy sat up and said this a little too loudly, so that the other conversation stopped and her husband looked at her. "He what?"  
  
"You know." Narcissa laughed in a witch's dry cackle, because she didn't care about the silence. "He asked her to tie the knot, say I do, 'till death do us part..."  
  
"I know what it means, Narcissa." Lucy snarled. "Paige is hardly old enough to get married."  
  
"Sure she is. We were that age."  
  
"We knew what was good for us." Lucy snapped back.  
  
"What are you saying?" Narcissa returned harshly.  
  
"Um, we're just going to go." Lucius grabbed his wife's arm and strode out, the Lestranges following. Severus closed the door behind them, and turned back to his wife.  
  
"What?" She noticed him watching her carefully. "She's not old enough to get married. She doesn't know what she wants."  
  
"What if she loves him, Lucy? You don't know anything about her feelings for the boy."  
  
"But how can she know what's good for her? They've been together for ages."  
  
"That's just like us, and we made it all right, didn't we?" He asked, his voice a little pained.  
  
She sighed. "I still want to talk to her. I want to make sure she loves him."  
  
"Fine. Tomorrow." He checked his watch. "Come on, let's go to bed."  
  
"Will you make love to me and make me feel better?" She asked, smiling gently as she got up.  
  
"Of course, if you like." He almost smiled back, taking her hand and leading her up the stairs. 


End file.
